Kia Tops in Happy Buyers

When it comes to being happy with your new car, owners of Kia’s new luxury car are the happiest of all, a new survey finds.

Kia scored highest when it came to a single model, but didn’t win the most categories, finds the 19th annual Vehicle Satisfaction Awards. It came in second, with four, behind General Motors, with five. Nissan had three.

“Competition is fierce and no one automaker dominates the results,” says George Peterson, president of AutoPacific.

The new survey buttresses another closely watched index in the auto industry, J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study, which also showed big gains by South Korean automakers Kia and corporate cousin, Hyundai.

“Kia and Hyundai are continually improving owner satisfaction in key areas like reliability and quality, yet are also hitting the mark with safety, braking, handling, styling and seat comfort, not to mention a very satisfying warranty program,” Peterson says.

All told, the survey considered 66,000 responses involving 274 models from 33 brands for the 2015.

Among brands, big gains were seen by Jaguar, which moved up 11 positions, and Volkswagen, which moved up 10.